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After the vending…

 

So, vending is over for the year; time to relax. Yeah, if only. Instead, I have LOTS OF WORK here at High on Hooking, both new, old, and some things I’ve been putting off till now.

Rug and mug to be sold on Etsy now that High on Hooking's vending season is over.
“New Mexico Geometrics” just went up into the Etsy shop last night! It comes with 4 blue mugs (if you choose), but also has a ring on the back for hanging. It’s 12×12 and hooked with recycled t-shirts!

 

Filling the Etsy Shop

Unfortunately, because I was so busy getting ready for and then actually doing the vending of October and November, I’ve had little to no time to devote to my Etsy shop. I was even forgetting to take down items that sold “in person.” Finally got around to that just before heading up to Santa Fe for the Fall Fiber Fiesta. In fact, I was in such a tizzy that day, that I initially deleted the wrong rug! With no time to put it back up, I hoped desperately to sell it that weekend. And you know what? Sometimes desperate prayers work! A lovely volunteer bought it. Now, though, I’m in the midst of putting up those items that didn’t sell at various shows. If you know someone who’d like to give a rug a forever home, send them here. There are all kinds of sizes and prices. And remember, every little rug deserves a home!

ATHA Biennial Favors

Because the Adobe Wool Arts Guild (AWAG) here in Albuquerque is so close – out west, eight hours is considered close – the Denver guild putting on next August’s ATHA Biennial asked us if we might help out a bit with an item to be included in the swag bag. We agreed, of course, and now I owe them some hooking. Vending put me behind the other AWAG members who will now laugh at my hurry-up attempts this week at our three-day retreat. See if I make them brownies…

 

Hooked rug on Anderson frame. Now that vending is finished, I can work on it.
I walk by this poor rug all day long. In the kitchen I try to sit with my back to him, but I can still hear him calling. “You promised we’d be together today…” The truth is that I long to sit and work on him more than any other rug. (But don’t tell that to “Kleeful” below.

 

The BIG Rug

Still languishing on the Anderson frame, shooting daggers every time I walk through the dining room, which is nothing more than the area next to my kitchen in my open-concept home, is the BIG Boucherouite of which I’ve hooked nothing but some outlining. Working on him is far more imperative now what with Albuquerque’s Fiber Fiesta (not to be confused with Santa Fe’s Fall Fiber Fiesta; ours is MUCH bigger and more educational in nature) right around the corner. Big Boucherouite is to be my primary entry. By the way, anyone, including YOU, can enter multiple pieces of fiber art; there are several categories. We receive stuff from folks all over, even Europe! But the important take-away is that entries are due online by March 1. Check out the Call for Entries here.

Unfinished Projects

You know, before I moved from Massachusetts to New Mexico, I never allowed myself to start a new rug before I finished the one I was working on. That went to crap pretty quickly out here as I started vending and taking annual workshops with AWAG, let alone doing commissions. Mats are always bumping others in my now not so insignificant queue of UFOs. Really, I’m not particularly happy about that, but it seems to be a fact of life these days. One day…

So, you see, vending is over but more work remains. Fortunately, I love my work! Maybe hemming a rug up not so much. But it’s getting colder even here in New Mexico, so the timing’s good. Oh, except for Christmas is in less than a month! Time to de-autumn the house and trim a tree. It never ends…

Dog and stuffed opossum sitting on unfinished hooked rug.
Tynan and his new best friend Opossum (thank you, Nan Huntington!) bring you this week’s “What’s on the frame.” Still working on “Kleeful.” Oddly enough I’m working on its (wide) perimeter before I fully decide on the small inner squares. I figure that it ought to be real fun when I try to hook those center squares what with the heaviness of the t-shirt loops. Not!

 

 

Are you like so many of the rug hookers I’ve seen on Facebook and Instagram this week who already have their trees up and their houses looking like Santa’s home up at the North Pole? How? Already? Maybe you’d like to come do my house too…

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Fall Fiber Fiesta – visit Santa Fe this Weekend!

 

Fall Fiber Fiesta 2017 in Santa Fe
Working, working, working my little fingers to the bone…

 

“Ikea Christmas” is a new rug that will be available at the Fall Fiber Fiesta in Santa Fe this weekend. Hooked out of all kinds of alternative fibers, she’s 9″x9″ and can be hung (there’s a ring sewn on her back) or take a space on a little table. 

Hope to see you at Fall Fiber Fiesta

in Santa Fe this weekend.

Admission is free.

I’ll have rugs and mats of all sizes available.

Mention this blog article and get 10% off any rug! 

 

 

 

 

 

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If I hook it, they will come. Really?

"Welcome to New Mexico", 29.5"x20", $225, Recycled t-shirts
“Welcome to New Mexico”

The rug that generates the most talk when folks come into my booth at the Rail Yards Market is the one I call “Welcome to New Mexico.” Many of you already know its story; that I started it right before I left Massachusetts late last July to move to Albuquerque. In my mind I’d work on it while the child and I crossed the country on our new adventure. I pictured myself contentedly hooking in motels each night as I decompressed after a day of driving. That didn’t happen once, not even when the kid spontaneously combusted in Scranton, Pennsylvania, when she thought her cell phone died. (I swear that I left at least a year of my life on the side of the highway there…)

No, I didn’t hook at all on the road. First of all, it was difficult just getting our things in and out of my Honda Fit each day. If you haven’t seen one, it’s a tiny car, and I’d packed it to the gills. Truthfully, it was enough every evening to find some dinner, catch up with important emails, call Tom (who was still back in Mass waiting for the movers), and brush my teeth before I fell asleep over my magazines.

The sanity-saving, hit-or-miss rug. Wonder where the inspiration for the color scheme came from? Hoping to put it on the floor in the new house.
The sanity-saving, hit-or-miss rug.

Hence, I started the rug in earnest when the kid and I arrived at the house we were renting till we found our New Mexican castle. (Therapy!)  It was designed to be a rug of convenience in that I was using t-shirts in the colors of the high desert and no set design. Old t-shirts in reds, browns, greens, and such are pretty ubiquitous; better, I’d found that Albuquerque had Savers stores. Savers has for years been my thrift shop of choice for used clothing to deconstruct and then hook with.

The hooking was done right quick – by the beginning of September. The finishing would have to wait until we moved (again) and I had more table room. To me it was an alright rug; it served its purpose, certainly, but I didn’t love it. Imagine my surprise when I put it up for sale at the Rail Yards this June. It was the mat that everyone pointed to when they perused my stuff. “Love that!” “Look, it’s got a Zia!” Even, “Hey, Sue, you should buy this one for your office.”

New Mexican flag courtesy of flags-to-print.com.

An aside:  For those who don’t know about the Zia sun symbol, here is a description from Pueblo of Zia:

The Zia logo is used by the state of New Mexico on both the flag and license plates.

The symbol originated with the Indians of Zia Pueblo in ancient times. It’s design reflects their tribal philosophy, with its wealth of pantheistic spiritualism teaching the basic harmony of all things in the universe. (http://zia.com/home/zia_info.html)

Maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised by its popularity. Zia suns are all over the place here: on our license plates, on t-shirts, worked into company logos, and so on. Silly me for thinking it would be seen as touristy or, at best, kind of kitschy. I mean, I’m from New England, but I didn’t have photos of sailboats or lobster statues throughout my colonial home.

A few weeks back a woman came through my booth; she had a marketing background and did a lot of work with arts and/or craft shows. The first thing she told me (after saying that she loved my work, that is) was that I needed to have more Zias. that people would eat them up. And that my mug rug concept should be “expanded,” that I should hook a larger rug, big enough to hold four mugs. That “if I hook it, they will come.” (And, concomitantly, they will pay more.)

What the hell, I thought, Let’s try it. Tom and I ran to Savers a couple of days later (if I go on Tuesdays, he gets me a senior discount of 30%!). There weren’t four matching mugs that would fit the New Mexican bill, but I did find two colored turquoise. Fine, we’d start small-ish. Below is what I came up with (minus one mug for the pic).

"Coffee for Two, NM Style" really came with two mugs. Sold!
“Coffee for Two, NM Style” really came with two mugs. Sold!

Fast-forward to this past Sunday. Everyone loves the “Welcome to New Mexico” rug, but, of course, no one wants to pay for it. (I know the owner-to-be is out there…) Lady comes in, is looking for a gift for her mother. Takes her a while to decide on one with the “perfect” colors that will match her mom’s home. I realize suddenly that I don’t have my Square, that I left it in the car. Tom makes a run for it. Lady walks around the market with her husband while we wait. Tom and she arrive back at the same time. I start to input the info into Square. “Wait!” she says excitedly. “Can I have this one instead? I think she’ll really love this one.” The Zia rug with its matching mugs is $10 more. Of course, you can!

So, I’m about to start making a lot more New Mexican-themed rugs and mats. That’s okay. I find it an interesting challenge to come up with different designs that don’t bore me, that have some panache beyond the typical tourist crap you find in Old Town Albuquerque. But I’m not one to design according to others’ preferences – unless they’re paying for a custom rug, of course. Fortunately, these will tend to be smaller rugs. For myself and my own “artistic sense,” I usually have another rug running, something that’s less work and more…therapy. Right now that’s a bedsheet rug. Pictures will soon be available.

"Desert Gone Wild"; 23"x9.5"; $90; Recycled t-shirts, SOLD
“Desert Gone Wild” is a rug that sold two weeks ago. Color, for me it’s all about the colors.

 

What about you? What do you like to hook? Landscapes? Geometrics? Portraits? Florals? Realistic versus stylized renderings? I know many love to do seasonal pieces. Me, I love pumpkins and other things fall, but I’m not a lover of Christmas rugs. It takes so long to make one, how can I put it out for six weeks at the most? Weigh in below!

 

 

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Rail Yards Market this week!

Albuquerque’s Rail Yards Market runs Sundays, May-October, 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

The Rail Yards Market – Albuquerque is finally here! For me, that is. Once juried in, I opted to skip May and sell in the summer and early fall every other week. With so many excellent artisans around here, management gave me August off to make room. I won’t complain.

I enjoy sales and such. I try to bring work with me; it generates all kinds of conversation and memories. “I remember helping my grandmother do this…” (Of course, all hookers know that “I did this in the 70s” really means they did a latch hook kit their mom bought them.) Certainly, kids love to try their hand at hooking. And in a town where weaving and quilting are the fiber arts queens, I think it’s time for a new princess to show her hand. I’m happy to be hooking’s ambassadress.

HIgh on Hooking getting ready to go out on the road. Or at least to the Rail Yards Market for a few hours.
High on Hooking getting ready to go out on the road. Or at least to the Rail Yards Market for a few hours.

If you’re in the Albuquerque area between 10:00 a.m. and 2 p.m. this coming Sunday, please stop by. There’s art, food, farmers and their produce, music, and a general good time to be had by all.

Before I can get there, though, I have a lot to do:

  • Remake tags for every rug. The ones still on some of the mats contain High on Hooking’s info pre-New Mexico.
  • Check to make sure that my Square is working properly.
  • Photograph newer rugs.
  • Finish a couple of mug rugs up. I steamed them two days ago.
  • Pay June’s rent to the Railyards or all this will be moot.
  • Sew some hangers onto some of the rugs.
  • Purchase a basket or two for the small mats.

Many of you know the work that goes into getting ready for a show or sale. I’m not new to this rodeo, but I haven’t done it for well over a year given that we were in the midst of packing, selling a house, and moving in 2015. Time to sweep out the cobwebs and…climb back in that saddle again…

Many hookers are averse to selling away their artwork. Not me; I have too many  at this point. Even too many to give away. And I’m making more all the time! Here’s hoping they sell. Are your rugs and mats adorning your own home, given as gifts, hidden away in a closet, or sold to make room for more and/or to purchase materials to make more?

Lest we forget the work on the frame. It's a new bed sheet rug but on monks' cloth this time rather than a latch hook backing. Narrower strips, more holes to fill means it's taking a lot more time!
Lest we forget the work on the frame. It’s a new bed sheet rug but on monks’ cloth this time rather than on a latch hook backing. Narrower strips, more holes to fill means it’s taking a lot more time!
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